


Firelight

by thekatthatbarks



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Romace, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22248307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekatthatbarks/pseuds/thekatthatbarks
Summary: There's a hand outstretched towards him and debates taking it.A fire flickers at his feet and he wonders if he can make a decision before the light goes out and there's no more heat.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 16
Kudos: 101





	Firelight

Kakashi had never thought of firelight as something mesmerizing. It was just a source of light. It could pinpoint enemies in thick forest or give off your own position. Kakashi hadn’t understood how something that could lick burns across your skin could be considered beautiful.

_But he did now._

Along with the crackling of the fire and Naruto’s distant footsteps, Sakura’s breathing felt like the only other sound. Naruto was on watch, so he was supposed to be asleep, but his eyes kept drifting to her in the adjacent bed roll. She was sound asleep, her body turned toward him.

It felt like the light from the fire danced across her skin, up her bare arms and across her face. It highlighted every detail of her as it flickered. Kakashi knew he’d never be able to get over how beautiful she was. He vowed to tell her everyday for the rest of his life, but even that didn’t feel like enough.

There were only inches between them. Kakashi could map out each one with his eyes but they felt like miles. Sakura had never felt so far away. It had been days since he felt close to her, had been able to touch her for longer than a second.

They had only been dating for a few months, but their feelings had been teetering on the edge of a knife for years. They were both sure of their feelings, but something had made them want to hide – _at least for a while_. Even before the romance, they were important to each other. To make such a big change was terrifying – _at least for Kakashi_ – and to have the world watching along felt like too much. They were still trying to figure everything out for themselves. There wasn’t a need to involve other people yet. Kakashi imagined them showing it slowly but knew with their luck it would end up them tumbling out of a closet.

The secret hadn’t been too big of a problem.

Until now.

Kakashi had a meeting with Gaara in Suna in a few days and Sakura and Naruto had been assigned to escort him – _he still mildly resented that he needed to be escorted just because he was Hokage_. While people could assume what they wanted to about Naruto, but he was perceptive. It made Kakashi paranoid and he felt like just brushing his shoulder with Sakura’s was the equivalent of saying they were sleeping together. He knew he was being ridiculous, and Sakura had even told him he was. But he couldn’t help it.

He just hadn’t realized how natural it had become to reach out for her, to hold and kiss her, behind closed doors. But out here, there were no doors or rooms to sneak off to.

Sakura shifted in her sleep and then reached her arm out, her hand finding his bed roll and clutching at the edge. She sighed softly in her sleep, “Kakashi.”

Kakashi felt his chest tighten and he rolled on to his back. He ran his fingers through his hair and wondered how they had gotten here. Like they were kids hiding behind walls with hushed giggles.

He knew the age difference wouldn’t go over well with everyone. Sakura was heading the hospital and sleeping with the Hokage wouldn’t go over well either. He used to be her sensei and there was that whole mess to deal with – _though it had been short, and he was a terrible sensei; he sometimes wondered how they were alive_. There was so many reasons to keep it in private. To slowly open up about it to their friends and keep it subtle in public.

Kakashi glanced at Sakura, her hand still clinging to his bed roll with a sleepy frown on her face.

But maybe none of it mattered. Not really. The people who loved them would support them and he could care less about the others. Bridges to cross and all that. _It didn’t matter, any of it._

Sakura was right next to them and he was debating holding her hand.

Because _Naruto_ might see? Someone who’d loved them for more than a decade?

Kakashi sighed, closing his eyes. He was ridiculous. _They_ were ridiculous. _Why did they care about any of that?_

He finally had someone he loved, and he couldn’t wrap his arm around her in public. She couldn’t come into his office and give him a kiss as she dropped off paperwork. He couldn’t leave stupid notes around her office in case someone found them. They couldn’t hold hands under the table at dinner. Or leave the bar together. He couldn’t tell the woman he loved he loved her in the middle of the street, while he had to stop himself from saying it every other sentence as is.

_And for what?_

Kakashi turned back to his side and slipped his hand into Sakura’s, holding her hand close to his chest. It felt like finally taking a deep breath after a long dive. He was oddly relieved at how even in her sleep, she curled her hand to better fit his. Kakashi fell asleep feeling warm for reasons outside of the fire at his feet.

_For no reason that was really important_.


End file.
